International Kissing Day 2019

The humble kiss is something that probably doesn’t cross your mind very much, but isn’t it a bit of a strange phenomenon?

To show someone we love them, we exchange millions of bacteria — doesn’t sound quite right!

But it’s one of the most romantic things we can do with our partners, and it’s even got its own special day!

International Kissing Day is a worldwide celebration of the humble kiss, in all of its many forms.

International Kissing Day is celebrated on Saturday 6th July 2019 across the planet and aims to make us appreciate a kiss in its own right.

No conventions, no social norms, just appreciation of the humble kiss!

So let’s take a look into why we kiss, how to say kiss in almost any language, and some other interesting facts that could come in handy at your next pub quiz!

1) How to Say Kiss in Other Languages

Language

Translation

Pronunciation

Afrikaans

soen

sun

Albanian

puthje

puth-yay

Arabic

قبلة (qibla)

kubla

Armenian

համբույր (hambuyr)

ham-blu-ther

Bangla

চুম্বন

choom-bom

Bosnian

poljubac

pom-blu-bacs

Catalan

besar

be-zar

Chinese

吻 (Wěn)

wen

Croatian

poljubac

pom-blu-bacs

Czech

polibek

polibek

Danish

kys

kiss

Dutch

kus

kuss

English

kiss

kiss

Esperanto

kiso

key-so

Estonian

suudlus

soov-wuss

Filipino

halik

hal-ee

Finnish

suudella

sue-della

French

baiser

bizz-ay

German

Kuss

koose

Greek

φιλί (filí)

feel-ay

Hindi

चुम्मा (chumma)

choo-ma

Hungarian

csók

chork

Icelandic

koss

koss

Indonesian

ciuman

see-you-man

Italian

bacio

bacho

Japanese

キッス (Kissu)

kiss-sue

Khmer

ថើប (thaeb)

towb

Korean

키스 (kiseu)

kis-ser

Latvian

skūpsts

scoop-s-tss

Macedonian

бакнеж (baknež)

bak-nej

Malayalam

ചുംബനം (cumbanaṁ)

chum-bana

Marathi

चुंबन (Cumbana)

chum-boy

Nepali

चुम्बन गर्नुहोस् (Cumbana garnuhōs)

chum-wan

Norwegian

kysse

hyiss-er

Polish

pocałunek

pot-owl-nek

Portuguese

beijo

bay-jo

Romanian

sărut

sa-root

Russian

поцелуй (potseluy)

pot-sool

Serbian

пољубац (poljubac)

pom-blu-bacs

Sinhala

හාදුවක් (hāduvak)

hine-wer

Slovak

bozk

bosk

Spanish

Beso

beso

Sudanese

nyium

neem

Swahili

busu

busu

Swedish

kyss

kyiss

Tamil

முத்தம் (Muttam)

moot-tum

Telugu

ముద్దు (Muddu)

mud-doo

Thai

จูบ (Cūb)

thoo

Turkish

öpmek

opmek

Ukrainian

поцілунок (potsilunok)

pot-sil-um-nok

Vietnamese

hôn

hon

Welsh

cusan

key-san

It's interesting to look at how similar the word kiss is when translated into other languages. For instance, several European countries retain the basic pronunciation of the word, while in Bosnia, Croatia and Serbia it's pronounced completely differently, but with similarities to each other.

Arrange the words by translation or pronunciation to see these similarities more easily.

2) Why Kissing is Good for Your Health

So let’s talk about bacteria.

A kiss actually transfers about 80 million bacteria between two mouths. But contrary to what you might expect, this exchanges is good for you!

That’s because each kiss will introduce new bacteria to your body, strengthening your immune system in the process.

And what’s more, kissing also stimulates your salivary glands, increasing production of saliva and helping to battle tooth decay.

So kissing really is good for your health!

3) The Kiss of Deaf

But there is a rare instance where a kiss can be extremely bad for your health!

A woman from Zhuhai, China embraced her boyfriend in a passionate kiss which led to her eardrum being ruptured!

According to the hospital consultant Dr Li: “The kiss reduced pressure in the mouth, pulled the eardrum out and caused the breakdown of the ear.”

Fortunately, the woman’s hearing loss was temporary, as the doctor expected it to revert to normal after around two months.

4) Record-Breaking Kisses

The UK record for the longest kiss was set on 6–7 July 2005 — the kiss lasted for 31 hours and 30 minutes!

Meanwhile, the world record was set by Ekkachai and Laksana Tiranarat on 12–14 February 2013. They kissed for a lip-smacking 58 hours, 35 minutes and 58 seconds.

That’s some kiss!

5) The Reason for the Eskimo Kiss

The Eskimo kiss, where you rub your nose against another person’s, is loosely based on an Inuit greeting called a kunik.

Many people believe the reason for rubbing noses is so that the cold weather doesn’t freeze the two participants mouths together, however in reality, it’s just because people tend to cover their mouths in cold climates like the Arctic.

This tradition is also widely practised in Mongolia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Polynesian Islands, and the Maori tribe of New Zealand.

In many European countries like the Netherlands, Switzerland, Montenegro, Macedonia and Slovenia, it is customary for people to greet by kissing one another’s cheeks three times alternately, starting with the right cheek.

This can often be a confusing tradition for foreigners, as they don’t know how many times to kiss and which cheek to start on, but keep to the standard above and you should be okay.

7) Unusual USA State Laws on Kissing

Some US states have unique kissing customs.

For instance, kissing one’s wife on a Sunday is considered illegal in Hartford, Connecticut.

For a man with a moustache to “habitually kiss human beings” is considered illegal in Indiana.

And in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, it’s a crime to kiss a stranger. That one might actually catch on!

POPULAR CATEGORY

SkyParkSecure's blog provides you with the most amazing up to date travel information out there. If you have something cool to share with us and feel it deserves a place on our blog then feel free to email ryan@skyparksecure.com.